The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1887-09-08
FERTILlZING TESTS.
experiments That VIII Prove OF Great
Value to Those Who Make Them.

principles of fertilization but of the re-
| quirements of the soil. The leading
principle of fertilization is that crops
take from the soil certain elements, as
nitrogen, potash, lime. phosphoric acid,
and others no less important in reality.
but OF less consideration because the
soil is usually well supplied naturally
with them; and that these elements
must be supplied in sufficient quantity
for the needs of the crops. This is the
guiding principle in growing crops,
but the farmer finds in practice that it
is quite rarely that more than one Of
these elements is deficient in the soil,
and when this is supplied the crops
grow luxuriantly and are as productive
as If manure had been spread or a
fertilizer containing every element of it
No farmer has, or ever had, all the
manure he could use satisfactorily, con-
sequently he has to make out supply
with artificial fertilizers, which are very
costly. Nitrogen costs from Is to 20
cents per pound. phosphoric acid from
6toS cents, and potash from A to 6 cents.
Then If farmer about to grow crop
of corn or wheat wishes to use 10 tons
of manure per acre or the equivalent
of it in artificial fertilizers, he must run
the risk of throwing away large part
of this in the form of one or another of
these elements, because the crop may
not require all of them. This was made
very evident to us in crop of rye, with
a seeding of grass and clover. which
has been recently taken from the field.
The land prepared for this rye last fall
was very poor, having been cropped
for forty years, with scarcely any ma
nurc, and being hillside had been
washed badly in places. Manure was.
as usual, very scarce, and there
were three places for every load
of it. 1t was decided to put the
manure on this field as far as it would
90 in preference to any other place.
The manure was not enough to
cover the whole, and a part was
fertilized with wood ashes quite liber-
ally, about 46 bushels per acre. The
rye on the manured part of the field is
excellent, the straw standing feet in
height and the heads averaging over 6
inches in length and filed with grain.
The yield of grain when the crop is
thrashed will certainly go over %
bushels to the acre, and may yield over
80. But where the ashes were spread
the growth was still better, the straw
being thick and strong and a majority
of the stalks standing fully feet, with
heads larger in proportion and filled
with very fine grain. 1t has been a
very good year for rye. but neighbors
passing always noticed this field and
remarked upon its fine appearance.
Now, it is very clear that the ashes
were more useful on this soil than the
manure, or at the least were fully as
useful, for the grain is decidedly better
where they were applied. The nitrogen
of the manure is as clearly superfuous
as the potash, lime and phosphoric acid
of tue ashes were useful. Had artificial
manures been used in this case, any
nitrogen purchased would have been
equivalent to money spent without re-
turn.
Ashes contain more lime than potash,
and in this case, as the soil is well filed
with mineral potash, it is most prob
able that the lime is the useful element.
To test this. a portion of a field will be
dressed with lime alone this fall and
rye sown upon it, with some potash
salts; superphosphate and manure upon
other parts of the field.
This case is typical of thousands. A
large amount of money is spent for
manure and for fertilizers containing
nitrogen, a large part of which is I'M
questionably spent for naught, because
the nitrogen is not the element needed.
1t is necessary to avoid this needless
expenditure, then. to discover what the
soil needs most and to provide that, in
stead of supplying all. 1t is as though
a man were hungry and we gave him
water, or thirsty and we gave him dry
bread, when we apply a fertilizer rich
in nitrogen when lime or potash is re-
quired, or one rich in potash when
phosphoric acid is wanted. 1t was the
habit, some years ago, to insist that
chemical analysis of the soil indicated
precisely what was required to produce
full crops; but in course Of time this
belief was shown to be unfounded
and nothing is now heard of it. 1t
is not what the soil contains, but
what is available in it, that makes
the measure of its fertility. A swamp
contains thousands of pounds per acre
of nitrogen, but not a plant of clover
or wheat could be grown upon it. A
soil may consist mostly of limestone,
but lime might be its greatest need; and
in like manner our land being made up
in large part of potash minerals is no
proof that potash is not its most neces-
sary element, and hence the surprising
effect of the fresh wood ashes applied
70 it, simply because they contained
potash ard lime in soluble or availa-
BILE condition.
Every farmer must test this for him
self. There are no agricultural doctors
who can give prescription for any soil
defective in fertility, such as may be
most effective and economical. One
may say barnyard manure in abundance
is a panacea for all infertile soils, but
this is not quite true. for some soils ex-
ceedingly rich in man ure will not pro-
duce clover or grain crop proftably.